Manufacturers in Nigeria spend N10.1 trillion on energy amidst unreliable electricity supply, frequent load shedding- Adesina, AfDB, President
Oredola Adeola
Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, manufacturers in Nigeria spend N10.1 trillion on energy, which is complicated by the unreliability of electricity supply and frequent load shedding.
The President, AfDB Group made this remark while delivering a keynote lecture with the title, “The Day the Lion Roared! Making Nigeria a Global Industrial and Economic Giant” at the Business Day CEO Forum in Lagos, on Thursday.
According to him no business can survive in Nigeria without generators, and this is made possible because of the lack of a consistent electricity supply, which has become the norm for businesses in Nigeria.
He said that “The cost of manufacturing in Nigeria is significantly higher than in other countries due to the high cost of electricity and the use of generators.
“This has resulted in Nigeria losing $29 billion annually due to poor power supply, or 5.8% of its GDP. Also, Nigerians spend $14 billion per year on generators and fuel.
“The inconsistent availability of electrical power has also resulted in high and uncompetitive manufacturing costs.
“This is a major challenge facing the manufacturing industry in Nigeria and results in an annual economic loss.
“Lack of electricity is killing Nigerian industries. According to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, industries spent N93.1 billion on alternative energy in 2018.
“The poor electricity supply situation in the country is a hindrance to the profitability of local manufacturers, and it is estimated that they lose N10.1 trillion annually due to power failure.
“The challenge is for the lion to roar, and decisive actions to tackles its energy deficiency and reliability. Unless this is done the country’s industries would remain uncompetitive. For now, Nigeria is developing too slowly and well below its potential.
“The nation must roar by making of itself an economic giant in Africa.
“Nigeria, like Simba, in the movie ‘The Lion King,’ has great promise. But the promise is yet to be realized. The day that Nigeria wakes up and becomes a Lion King, everything will change for its people. And everything will change for all of Africa. Along the way, there will be several Rafikis – sincere friends – whose only agenda is to inspire, motivate, and encourage the new King,” Adesina said.
He further suggested that industrial manufacturing can earn Nigeria ten times what it earns from reliance on oil.
He therefore charged the leadership of the country to change the perspective away from simply import substitution, to high-valued export-oriented manufacturing, adding that Nigeria’s greatest wealth would come from having strong manufacturing capacity for competitiveness in regional trade and integration into global value chains.
Adesina also noted that the key to unleashing Nigeria’s “lion hood” is engineering an industrial revolution, the likes of which we have not seen before. It has to be deliberate and intentional.
